~ My Birthday Cake and Leonardo ~

My Birthday Cake was scrumptious! A Moist Chocolate Cake recipe from my Tante (Aunt) Margita which was given to my mother, which I have now baked for years. I had always placed skittles on top for the kids. Now it’s decorated with strawberries or raspberries, or anything of your choosing really. Whatever your creative mind would like! It’s a simple Recipe…..

For my birthday, I received some beautiful gifts; one being this picture for my blog!

The others: an incredible homemade card, gorgeous tulips, guacamole with yummy chips, and a few other little gifts….

I also received a bottle of wine from a client for Christmas, and he said to open this bottle when you have a big celebration… well I figure this counts! Plus my brother and his family are up for the weekend, and so we will open this bottle wishing me and all others Extreme Happiness and Extreme Health for an Amazing 2016!!!

Now besides birthdays and all other things wonderful, I also learned this past week, that Leonardo, not Leonardo DiCaprio (Who, by the way, is the executive director of “Cowspiracy”. Have you watched it yet???)…. I actually mean Leonardo da Vinci who was an amazing man…..besides being into architecture, botany, engineering, mathematics, music, history, cartography, geology, inventor……. he was also into animal rights and a vegan! Check out Leonardo’s friend, Andrea Corsali, who said, “Do not feed upon anything that contains blood, or do they permit among them any injury be done to any living thing, like our Leonardo da Vinci.” And Giorgio Vasari said, “In all the other animals… he managed with the greatest love and patience; and this he showed when often passing by the places where birds were sold, for, taking them with his own hand out of their cages and having paid for them what was asked, he let them fly away into the air, restoring them to their lost liberty.” Leonardo himself had said that he would not be a “tomb for other animals, an inn of the dead … a container of corruption.”

“Man has great power of speech, but the greater part thereof is empty and deceitful. The animals have little, but that little is useful and true; and better is a small and certain thing than a great falsehood.” He said a few other very important and thoughtful things, which you can read on Emily’s youtube channel, Bite Size Vegan Leonardo da Vinci. Emily is doing a series on “The History of Veganism”. Thanks Emily for all that you do!!

I have to say, I wanted to publish this blog the weekend of the 23/24th of Jan., but company had joined our family for skiing and fun, and the rest of the days got away from me with work and all…. I am very happy to publish my Chocolate Cake recipe now …. try it and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading! Now Go Vegan and Have An Amazing Day! Remember Today Is The Day!